Improvement in zinc-smelting furnaces



Patented Oct.. 23,-1877. @if I K 0. LUMAGHI. Zin Smelting-Furnace.

ATTORNEYS.

N.PEERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAFNER. WASHINGON, D. C,

No.r196,369.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OOTAVIUS LUMAGHI, OF OOLLINSVILLE, ILLINOIS..

,IMPROVEMENT IN ZINC-SMELTING FURNACES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 196,369, dated October23, 1877; application filed June 11, 1877.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, OoTAvIUs LUI/LAGHI, of Collinsville, county ofMadison, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and ImprovedZinc-Smelting Furnace, of which the folloW- ing is a specification:

This invention has relation to furnaces which are designed for smeltingthe ores of zinc; and the nature of my invention consists inconstructing' the back Wall of the furnace with holes through it, whichare provided with removable plates, in combination with retorts Whichhave perforations through their butttain all the zinc which remains inthe retortsv in the form of oxide. A

In'the annexed drawings, Figure l is a ver tical section takenlongitudinally through a zinc-smelting furnace. Fig. 2 is a verticaltransverse section through the furnace.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The letter A designates the Wall of a furnace, which is made of masonryin the usual manner. B B designate the combustionchambers or furnaces onopposite sides of a ridge, a. The products of combustion are carried offthrough ilues leading out of the arch of the furnace, in the usualwell-known manner. The front Wall ofthe furnace is constructed Withsuitable openings for the intro tate the introduction of the retorts,and along each row of openings or cells b is a horizontal supportingshelf, o. The outer ends of the openings b are provided with caps D forclosing them, which caps are removable. This perforated back Wall iscomposed, principally, of blocks of refractory clay held in place bymetal bars. O O designate the retorts, which are made of refractoryclay, and are of cylindrical or other suitable form, with perforations ethrough their butt-ends. l

The retorts in the furnace are supported in inclined planes, as in allfurnaces constructed on the Belgian plan.

The object of the perforation e in each retort and through the back wallof the furnace is to obtain a draft of air through the retort whenWanted. Previous to charging the retorts the perforations e are lutedclosely, and

the process of reducing the ore is carried on in the ordinary manneruntil the free metal is removed; then, by opening the retorts and theWall of the furnace, drafts of air will circulate through them and carryoft' the remaining Zinc in the form of an oxide. This will be collectedin suitable receptacles behind the furnace until the contents of all theretorts are completely exhausted.

By this process I save the amount of metal that cannot be drawn asspelter, which is oftentimes considerable.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- The combination, with a furnace having holescovered by removable plates in the back Wall, of the retorts havingtheir butt-ends perforated, as and for the purpose specified.

OOTAVIUS LUMAGIII.

Witnesses WILLIAM M. NELSON, WILLIAM H. MCKEAG.

